Honker II

Holman-Moody was founded by John Holman and Ralph Moody. The pair had been hired by Ford in 1956—Holman as Ford’s stock car mechanic at their workshop in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Moody as a NASCAR driver. In 1957, Ford, along with other American manufacturers, was banned from official participation in motorsport. Holman and Moody were made redundant, and so founded Holman-Moody to continue their involvement in racing. They subsequently purchased Ford’s Charlotte workshop for $12,000.

By 1965, Holman-Moody was a leading American race car manufacturer, with Fords built by Holman-Moody winning 48 of 55 NASCAR Grand National Series races in 1965. To this day, this record remains unbroken.

The constructor wanted to compete in the Can-Am series, bringing about the Honker II, nicknamed after Holman from his truck driving days. The car was painted in the Ford team colour, Passino Purple, while Len Baily designed the car, and Alan Mann built the chassis. The disc brakes and certain suspension components were placed inboard, similar to Formula 1 cars made by Cooper. The initial powerplant was a fuel-injected 351-cubic-inch V-8 pre-production Ford engine. The second was a 377-cubic-inch V-8 with Gurney-Weslake cylinder heads, and a Hewland LG-600 transaxle transmission sent power to the rear wheels.